Over 70bn/- spent in clove purchases in Zanzibar

By The guardian reporter

7th April 2012

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A Total of 70.8bn/- has been spent on purchasing 4.7 million kgs of clove since the beginning of the clove harvesting season last July.

This was said by the Deputy Minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing, Swaybah Kisasi, while responding to a question asked by Mtambile Representative Salim Abdulla Hamad, during the on-going session of House of Representatives at Chukwani in Zanzibar on Thursday.

He said during the season, the government through the Zanzibar State Trading Corporation (ZSTC) has succeeded to buy the clove and reaching 157 per cent of the target.

He said the target set was to buy 3,000 tonnes of the crop, but since the government has succeeded to control and eliminate illegal clove trading, ZSTC managed to surpase it.

He said that Wete District on Pemba Island was the one that lead after having succeded to sell a total of 1,577 tonnes, whereby farmers obtained a total of 23.6m/- in earnings.

This was followed by the Mkoani District on Pemba Island which sold a total of 1,262 tonnes of clove leading farmers to collect a total of 18.7m/-.

He said, furthermore, that the government would continue to make efforts to develop the crop because it was very important to the economy of Zanzibar and especially in efforts to reduce income poverty.

Earlier, Representative Salim wanted to know how much clove the government had bought in the now ending clove harvesting season.

Since the government raised the price of a kilo of clover from 3,500/- to 15,000/-, the illegal clove trade has become almost non-existent in Zanzibar.